For those who love computers, building a PC is a rewarding experience, especially if they’re the ones that picked the components and assembled everything. The latter is quite easy. The really tricky part is the former; choosing the pieces and making sure they are the best. One of these very important pieces is the motherboard.

It goes without saying that the motherboard plays a big role as it dictates the rest of the components that goes into the build. The mobo will determine which processors you can use, along with the type and amount of RAM you can put in. It also dictates how many graphics cards you can run on your rig.

While there really isn’t an increase in performance when opting for a gaming motherboard over a budget one, the cheaper option can prove to be limited when it comes to features and I/O. Moreover, overclocking isn’t offered in most low-end motherboards, which crosses out great overclockers and further limits your CPU choices. There’s also not much sense in upgrading the processor if you’re on a budget board.

Boards come in two flavors. One is for an Intel system while the other is for an AMD setup. And while it’s true that the current Intel chips take the cake when it comes to gaming, there are still plenty that opt for AMD. Brand patronage aside, AMD systems are cheap and offer great value for money. Hence, if you’re looking to build a gaming PC on a budget, you should put into consideration AMD and its offerings. You should be able to find a top of the line AMD motherboard from the suggestions below.

Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z ($167.10)

Asus is a good option for power users as it is a hardware firm that holds the most overclocking world records. The Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z is truly a top of the AMD motherboard. It has good heat dissipation that allows stable overclocking of FX processors that are notorious for their temps. The board has tons of features and looks fantastic.

The Crosshair V Formula-Z supports for up to 32GB memory, 8 USB 2.0, 4 USB 3.0 as well as an on-board video in the Supreme FX III. This motherhood is worth buying for mid to high-end builds to benefit from its performance.

The upgraded 990FX motherboard comes with an exclusive ROG gaming audio as well as networking technologies. This supports the most recent AMD Socket AM3+ multi-core processors and consumes less power. It has an AMD Turbo Core tech 2.0 and speeds up the data transfer rate via HyperTransport 3.0 based system bus of up to 5200MT per second.

Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 ($74.14)

You can never go wrong with an Asus mobo. The M5A78L-M/USB3 cannot be said to one atop of the line AMD motherboard, it’s still a good choice, especially if you don’t plan to run more than one graphics card. Granted its price, however, don’t expect a lot from this board. The on-board graphics it comes with is an ATI Radeon HD 3000, which isn’t all that impressive. You really don’t need it anyway if you’re going to install a discrete graphics card.

The good thing about it is that it has an anti-surge-full-time power guardian-make system that makes it risk-free as well as solid capacitors that are all 100 percent conductive polymer capacitors. There should be no issues with titles as it has an AM3+ socket. Slap an FX-6300 six-core processor and a Radeon RX 480 graphics card onto it and you’ll have no problem playing the latest titles in medium settings.

Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 ($179.99)

If you want a top of the line AMD motherboard, look no further than the Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0. Heat won’t be an issue on this thing. Asus used ceramic coating, which is great for heat dissipation. The Taiwanese mobo maker all used military-grade capacitors and even included a DIGI+ digital power controller for not only the CPU but also the DRAM.

You also won’t have problems if you want to run a 2-way or 3-way SLI/Crossfire setup as the 990FX R2.0 comes with 3 PCIe lanes. And while its older brother, the original Sabertooth 990FX, was plagued with tons of issues, Asus seems to have addressed them with R2.0. In fact, it’s one of the highly-rated, top of the line AMD motherboards on Amazon.

AsRock 990FX Professional ($157.48)

Another top of the line AMD motherboard comes from ASRock Inc., the 990FX Professional. Established in 2002, ASRock Inc. specializes in motherboards and is currently held as one of the big four – beside Asus, Gigabyte and MSI. The firm strives to make a name of its own, exploring motherboard limitations while paying attention on the eco side or the eco-friendly concept when developing products. It has become the world’s third largest motherboard maker with headquarters in Europe, United States and Taiwan.

This ASRock 990FX Professional is part of AsRock’s Fatal1ty range of products that is intended to provide useful features and top end performance. It is designed for overclockers and gamers. Based on the AMD 990FX chipset, this motherboard offers 5 PCI Express slots, up to 6 USB 3.0 ports, 6 SATA3 ports, 2 eSATA3 ports, 6 analog sound connectors and coaxial SPDIF sound output.

MSI 970 Gaming ($99.00)

For AMD fans, the MSI 970 Gaming is great for its price. Though not as flashy as the others, it gets the job done and provides a great base for a medium build with which one can save a few dollars and still come up with a solid computer. It comes with a Killer Ethernet for optimal speed and competitive multiplayer games. It also supports 2-way SLI/Crossfire setups. Moreover, MSI included “special” ports in the 970 Gaming motherboard such as that of the “gaming device port,” which is said to offer faster mouse response times. But while it’s great value for money, it’s not really what one would peg as a top of the line AMD motherboard.

Nowadays, good PC games like The Witcher3, Overwatch, and The Doom, demands powerful and beefy RAMs, Graphics Cards, and Hard Disks. Our market has a wide variety of gaming equipment, but to narrow the clutter down, check out Gaming Haven for the Best Gaming Laptop or equipment in general for 2016. They promise an undoubtedly smooth and exceptional gaming experience, you have no choice but to leave your bank accounts crying.

However, stretching out your budget by buying parts of your gaming PC individually gives you a decent amount of flexibility – in terms of weighing in what you prioritize most in your PC. It also gives you the power to consider adjustments whenever the spending is beyond the borderline already.

Likewise, you don’t want to miss out the great games of 2016, and so do we. That is why we are here to share you the budget-friendly rigs out for grabs based on Amazon’s pricing. Though, of course, you’ll get slight drawbacks – having to play your favorite games on a mid-settings.

Prior to buying your PC, it is better to have a target budget and the expected performance of your CPU. Check out these list for gaming PCs on a budget.

A gaming PC for $600 or less:

Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX

Amazon Price: $ 49.99

Amazon Rating: 4.8 / 5.0

Thermaltake offers maximum cooling without occupying big space in your cramped room. Sleek and flexible due to its interchangeable and adjustable side panels to customize the board arrangement of your taste. Also, it offers a pre-installed 1x200mm Front Fan with optional Extreme Air or Liquid Cooling.

Processor: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz

Amazon Price: $ 118.00

Amazon Rating: 4.8 / 5.0

Intel Core i3 is a good deal for a $600 budget if you are weighting it out on an i5. Intel i3 is made of a dual core CPU, with a clock speed of 3.7GHz, and Hyper-Threading available with its 3MB cache.

Graphics Card: PowerColor Rx 460 Graphics Cards AXRX 460 2GBD5-DH/OC

Amazon Price: $ 144.49

Amazon Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

PowerColor offers 1750 MHZ speed with gddr5 graphics processor, and 128 MB of Graphics Ram Size. This is a good substitute while waiting for your GTX 1060 3GB.

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2x4GB)

Amazon Price: $ 58.59

Amazon Rating: 4.8 / 5.0

G.SKILL shows off their 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM, which is not bad for starters. Running at a memory speed of 2400 MHz, which can optimize your par gaming experience.

Rosewill offers flexibility by supporting Intel or AMD systems. The pack comes with 12V rails that’ll be able to provide you with 27 amps of independent but reliable power, 120mm Fan that automatically adjusts through the smart temperature sensor.

SSD: Toshiba OCZ Trion 150 240GB

Amazon Price: $ 73.94

Amazon Rating: 4.6 / 5.0

Reference: Tom’s Hardware

Boasting a state-of-the-art computing experience through Toshiba OCZ Trion, you are promised to feel enhanced speed while still focusing on low power consumption. Sleek housing, a SATA6b/s compatible, and has a capacity of 240GB.

For a $600 budget, you’ll get a nice desktop tower that can support varieties of games, however, the drawback is the limited storage space. As aforementioned, PC games need sufficient memory, which requires a minimum of 1 terabyte. This is due to the Toshiba SSD being used alone as a storage device. But if you can spare your $40.00 for additional space, then go for the 1TB Western Digital Blue 7200RPM as an HDD.

The Xbox gained increasing popularity over the years as it continues to offer gamers an alternate platform for video games of virtually every genre. For this year, the video games with massive positive reviews from the Xbox gaming community are mostly sequels of popular games. Check out the list below for the best xbox games of 2016.

Call of Duty

This popular first person shooting game has returned to the gaming world with its brand new installment entitled Black Ops 3. The plot is set in an apocalyptic environment in the near future where wars frequently develop and weapons are so advanced that they are hard-wired to the brain. Because of the unique nature of the game’s environment and storyline, it will surely grab the interest and attention of players who are fans of crazy scientific advancements in the military setting that seem impossible and illogical.

NBA 2k17

This basketball simulation franchise has once again returned to the virtual gaming console. The latest franchise offers the same experience like that of its predecessors. It features real basketball teams and real players depicted in the virtual gaming platform. Players are free to select their own teams and play as their favorite players in a virtual basketball tournament. Its graphics are very defined, that it makes the setting of the game very similar to that of live championship games.

FIFA 2k17

Soccer fans all over the world are also rejoicing with the return of the FIFA gaming series. The latest franchise offers the same features like its predecessors,wherein they focused on virtually simulated soccer matches of different soccer teams that players are free to choose. Like the NBA 2k17, developers have paid very close attention to the graphics and details to give players the best virtual sports game experience.

Dark Souls III

Anybody who loves role-playing games will surely love the gameplay experience offered by Dark Souls. The third chapter in the franchise immerses players into the fantasy-filled world, albeit a darker environment,where they will fight through familiar creatures such as dragons, giants, undead creatures, and odd-looking sea monsters to complete the quest. Gamers choose a character to play, customize weapons and armors, and fight enemies to become stronger.

Gears of War 4

This game is a third person shooting game whose plot resembles post-modern apocalyptic world scenarios. It centers on humanity’s survival under threat and a person by the name of JD is on a quest to eradicate the source of the problem. Its gameplay environment is similar to Dark Souls, in the sense that the gamer is immersed in a setting that emits a creepy aura. Combined with suspense scenes that brings chills down gamer’s spines, Gears of War 4 is a great game for those who are fond of subjecting themselves to a creepy gameplay. There are still months left before the year ends and there are still a number of upcoming releases that many gamers are eagerly awaiting. Those new releases just might make it to this list if they can match the adrenaline-rushing experience that these five games can offer.